Beiseker is a village in the Canadian

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, approximately northeast of

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. It is considered to be an outermost part of the

Calgary Region The Calgary Metropolitan Region (CMR), also known as Greater Calgary or Metro Calgary is a conglomeration of municipalities centred on Calgary, the largest city in Alberta. With the Government of Alberta's establishment of the Calgary Metropoli ...

, and is included within Calgary's

Census Metropolitan Area The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of stat ...

(CMA). The village is surrounded by rural

Rocky View County Rocky View County is a municipal district in southern Alberta, Canada that is named for its views of the nearby Rocky Mountains to the west. It surrounds most of Calgary, forming the city's northern boundary and most of the city's western and e ...

, and the closest neighbouring communities are

Irricana Irricana is a town in the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. Surrounded by Rocky View County, it is adjacent to Alberta Highway 9, Highway 9, approximately northeast of Calgary. The name of the town is a portmanteau of the words "i ...

, Kathyrn, and

Acme Acme is Ancient Greek (ἀκμή; English transliteration: ''akmē'') for "the peak", "zenith" or "prime". It may refer to: Arts, entertainment and games * ''Acme'' (album), an album by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion * Acme and Septimius, a fic ...

History

Lying in a belt of rich black soil, Beiseker was developed as an agricultural service centre. It was founded by the Calgary Colonization Company, whose purpose was to promote settlement by demonstrating the grain-growing potential of the area. The village's name came from Thomas Lincoln Beiseker (1866-1941), a partner and vice president of the company. Initial colonization took place in 1908 when the company recruited a number of ethnic

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

settlers from the Great Plains of the Dakotas. This is reflected in the number of German family names which predominate the area. The village began to grow in 1910 when the branch line of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

was completed. In 1910, the first general store was opened in a large two-story building which housed the school and dance hall. The Grand Trunk Pacific line - now owned by

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

- was constructed in 1912 to the east of the central business district. Telephone arrived in 1912 and electricity in 1928. With the construction and intersection of Highways 9, 72 and 806 at the northeast edge of the village, Beiseker came to have a very favourable location in terms of road and rail access. Since it is located almost equidistant from

and

Drumheller Drumheller is a town on the Red Deer River in the badlands of east-central Alberta, Canada. It is located northeast of Calgary and south of Stettler. The Drumheller portion of the Red Deer River valley, often referred to as Dinosaur Vall ...

, Beiseker began to emerge as a local service and trade centre for the surrounding rural agricultural area. Village status was achieved in 1921. The surrounding area's great potential for grain-growing is shown by Beiseker's status as " World Wheat King Capital", or as a top producing area of wheat.

Infrastructure

Beiseker Community School is located in the village. It is part of the

Rocky View Schools Rocky View School Division No. 41 or Rocky View Schools (RVS) is the public school authority that serves students to the west, north and east of the City of Calgary in the province of Alberta. The original board's name was called Calgary Rural Sc ...

system, and teaches from kindergarten to grade 12. The village is also home to

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

congregations. As Beiseker is at the intersection of three provincial highways, and equipped with a campground and motel, it is a popular stop for campers and other travellers coming to and from

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

and

. There is also a small airport which serves the community, located a five kilometres east of town along Alberta Highway 9.

Economy

Beiseker currently serves as a centre for local agricultural services including fertilizer, seed cleaning, and soil testing. There is a local UFA outlet, and a Canadian Malting Co.

grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

serving farmers in the area. Local industries serve the

oilpatch The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry, includes the global processes of hydrocarbon exploration, exploration, extraction of petroleum, extraction, oil refinery, refining, Petroleum transport, transportation (often by oil tankers ...

, and there are many sites extracting

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

in the immediate area surrounding Beiseker, as well as several major

pipelines A pipeline is a system of pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries around the world. The Un ...

. Beiseker also has a number of small businesses on its main street offering a variety of services, including a local

credit union A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts (che ...

, grocery store,

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

and hair dressers, as well as several small restaurants. The Canadian office of Lampson International, a large international company specializing in construction cranes, is based in Beiseker.

Notable people

''William Samuel McGee'' (b 1868, Lindsay,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

- d 1940, Beiseker) lived for several years on a farm with his wife and daughter just outside Beiseker and is buried in the area. His name was to be the inspiration for the poem The Cremation of Sam McGee by

Robert W. Service Robert William Service (16 January 1874 – 11 September 1958) was an English-born Canadian poet and writer, often called “The Poet of the Yukon" and "The Canadian Kipling". Born in Lancashire of Scottish descent, he was a bank clerk by trade ...

Arts and culture

Several locations in and around Beiseker were featured in the filming of

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. His films are known for their emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim and List o ...

's Academy Award-winning film ''

Brokeback Mountain ''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from Brokeback Mountain (short story), the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx, the screenplay ...

'', including the site of the 'Twist Ranch' that figures importantly in the penultimate scene of the film. In 2016, Beiseker was selected as a filming location for the third season of

FX Network FX (originally/formerly Fox Extended) is an American pay television channel owned by FX Networks, a division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company. Based at the Fox Studios lot in Century City, Los Angeles, F ...

's show Fargo, as well as an episode of TBS's series The Detour. In 2018, Beiseker hosted the production for the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series Black Summer. In 2019, Beiseker hosted on-location shooting for Ghostbusters: Afterlife. In 2023, Beiseker hosted productions of Wind River: The Next Chapter as well as the fifth season of the Fargo TV series. The Beiseker Station Museum, which showcases local history and artifacts dating from the village's founding in the early 1900s, is located in the former

station and village offices. The village also hosts an annual family festival, the Beiseker Country Fair, on the second Saturday in June.

Mascot

In the early 1990s, the Village of Beiseker began promoting itself with the mascot, "Squirt the Skunk", which included promotional items such as pins and postcards. A "Squirt the Skunk" statue, in height, was erected in the campground near Highway 72. In addition, a "Squirt the Skunk" costume was made so the mascot may appear at village events.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, the Village of Beiseker had a population of 754 living in 314 of its 333 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 819. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Village of Beiseker recorded a population of 819 living in 331 of its 338 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 785. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1921 establishments in Alberta Calgary Region Rocky View County Villages in Alberta